After School Villains Club (2)

Arrival

Starfire

Obviously we did not take Wonder Woman's jet to a 'Maul Crawl' whatever that would turn out to be. Instead we took something known as a Train, a large number of carriages that ran over the city on long thin rails. It gleamed and flew past the many buildings with all their people in them. The only one who was not dressed Casual was Robin.

He fussed and argued when Charlie said "But this is a neutral zone! If you had like, an unmarked ninja suit maybe they'd let you but no way you're getting in, dressed like a hero!"

He and supergirl pressed Robin back into his dorm room on seeing he had not changed. A looking through his sleeping chambers was supposedly scary. "There was hardly anything in it, just a bed, a set of draws and a desk covered with notebooks. The rest of the room was tidy, vacuumed."

I had not seen inside Robin's room yet but Charlie had immediately put pictures of heroes, villains and people called Punk Rockers all over his walls, and I had brought plants into my room! They kept me company at night.

Robin's room had nothing, and according to Charlie, "His closet had multiples of his uniform. All red and gold. No normal clothes! I've never seen something that freaky!"

I have no context for clothes or why they are important, even now the idea of coverings for anything except protection seems silly.  Even after Kara explained it: "It's like he's given up on having a secret identity."

In the end we dressed him in a hrbrid uniform, keeping the leggings and belt but swapped out the top and anything with his logo. Kara gave him one of her shirts, a white one and Charlie gave him an oversized football jacket. He moped the whole train ride and I couldn't help looking back at him. Yes the lights of the city passing underneath, sun reflecting off hot glass and metal was enticing but in the end I chose to sit beside him for the remainder of the ride.

"Alright! This place is going to be awesome you guys, come with me!" We hesitated on the platform where the train had left us. Kara and Lena were standing there, holding hands. Both were red as roses from their ears to their necks but they held hands anyhow, their soul songs syncing up.

"Eeeee!" I clapped, "Let me guess, you want to be alone together?"

Lena nodded her response, "Yeah. I kinda made a planned route for us. You don't mind if we catch up later right!"

"Nah girls, you go have your fun!" Charlie was the one speaking up. "Hey, Bird Boy! Come on, don't get lost!"

Moving out through the town we were led past street vendors selling food, people walking in all directions, auto mobiles and other machines, they passed so slowly it was almost silly. I floated along behind these new friends. Since arriving here almost everyone I've met has been nice. There have been so many open spaces and while people had looked at me weird, not a single person had called me an 'It', or a 'Drive', or sprayed me with gas.

"I almost wish I could stay here forever!" I called out, "Everything is so alive!"

"Hey, Star! Try these!" I turned back, oh it was this game. They were getting human food from a shop. "Oh okay!" I fluttered over, still standing in the air and bent down to look. It was something that looked like yellow paper, with vegetables in it.

"This one should be spicy!" Charlie was saying, "Authentic Quesadilla, tomato, onion, garlic, ghost peppers, and enough cheese to sink a ship!"

"Charlie, don't give her that. You don't know-" He was still holding the food in his hand, so I bent over and took a huge bite out the top of it, before straightening and munching!

"Hmmm! Nice, there's a kind of lava tencade with a similar taste!" As I chewed I walked up into the air to see better, aware the boys were staring at me.

"You said that thing had ghost peppers in it? Did she miss?" Robin was asking quietly.

"Nah, she took half the damn thing... What, you chicken, have a bite!"

I could taste the poison. I assume it was a kind of poison. Apparently some people on this planet liked to feed themselves poisonous food for fun. There was even a game they made out of it! I would probably feel the results of this one later when I made water in the 'toilets', but my organs would separate out the poison before it could hurt me.

"No way! That stuff would kill me!" Robin was insisting, our group got moving again. Human food tended towards bland, but the 'ghost pepper' was okay. Charlie was finishing the rest of the food I'd munched as we walked, he ate a lot of food. It apparently took a lot of energy to change his shape!

"Okay, so once we get to the mall!" He instructed between bites, "You guys take it easy! There will be villains there, some you may recognize but remember. No fighting. Unless it's like, in a match or tourney. No using weapons, even for the sake of showing off, and no fake Mexican accents!"

"Heya Kiddos!" As we approached the mall a figure greeted us. "This, no good place for kiddo's like you!"

"I thought you said no fake accents!" Robin mocked. This man, or person, definitely a living creature of unknown origin; was short, round, with an overly long moustache. Darkish skin and hair of a shade I'd never seen before could probably pass for any species, maybe he was a kind of chameleon. He wore a stuffy suit with lots of buttons, reflective material and logos and held a long baton with a light on the end.

"Aai, are ya deaf? This no go, mall closed!" Sharkie stepped up into the lead and began his usual shape change. This time not all the way, but far enough that you could see the bulbous grey skin and pitch black eyes, not to mention make him a lot bigger.

He spoke confidently, in a deep gravelly voice. "I think we're allowed in," and the three of us passed right by, the guard taking up his spot again with a neutral pose and hands behind his back.

"Wow, I mean why was he trying to send us away?" Robin asked, "What happened to neutral zone?

Sharkie relaxed, his face easing back as he sagged. "You two look too much like heroes. They needed to know you're with me." The sigh rolled off him, thundering away into the large warren of rooms we entered, like lonely thunder.

I put my hand on his shoulder, still walking high enough of the ground I could reach,  "What cha gonna do when there's blood in the water?" Sharkie asked. No, wait. I blinked, I heard his soul briefly, it was a flicker of his inner voice.

"Look for an age of reason?" I tried to respond, but the song went quiet. Like he was actively trying to make himself quiet. He looked at me, briefly, then away.

"You're a good man Charlie! Both of you!" I spun back to Robin. Both of them hurt so much inside, I stepped down off the weak air I'd been moving on, falling into step on the ground beside them.

And we walked through the mall. Looking at stuff. Apparently a mall is like a sook, a bunch of shops under one roof and 'mall crawling' means looking around and not buying.

This is what humans do for fun!

At first we stayed together; many people, some wearing bright colours and capes were gathered in the free spaces. The shops around the edge were selling a lot of different things, some of which looked tech but a lot which didn't. Looking down one long hallway there was the enticing sound of thudding base sounds and shrill thumpy music. Down another was an area just for food.

I didn't mean to get separated from the boys. I promise. I really didn't, but there was just too much going on. One minute I knew where they were, the next I was lost in the crowd of people.

I stood, I couldn't see over them. I could fly? Would that be bad? I started to float a little - if I could see their heads? Hear their soul-song I could - I could!

"Well hello there!" A coy voice called at my feet. "Do you come here often?"